News and Views
My World-Read-Aloud-Day Video
March 5, 2014, is World Read Aloud Day – LitWorld’s annual advocacy campaign for the human right of literacy. The goal is to call attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories. Imagine a world where everyone can read!
Let’s face it – words have power. They can unite us to a cause and move us to cry, laugh, or smile. Sharing words has always held an important place in my life.
Some of my fondest memories as a kid are of reading A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books aloud with my mother, each of us taking turns reading the characters’ voices. I always preferred to be Piglet and Tigger, and my mother can still do an excellent Eeyore.
As a parent of young kids, reading before bedtime was an opportunity to connect after a long day, and my kids and I can still recite books like Loris Lesynski’s Dirty Dog Boogie and Robert Munch’s A Promise is a Promise from memory. On family holidays, we always picked a novel to read aloud together. Today, all the books we read aloud together still hold treasured memories.
One special memory came when we were reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. My partner and our daughters had travelled to a cabin in Algonquin Park with my parents. I’d carefully selected a book to read aloud that I hoped would interest everyone. After I read a few chapters, I was delighted when my father picked up the book and read the next chapter. He couldn’t wait to find out what happened next, and he greatly enjoyed reading aloud. During that holiday, we passed the book around, taking turns reading. My parents even planned to begin reading aloud together at home.
Another fond memory I have is of my two daughters reading aloud together from books like Camp X by Eric Walters. My eldest would most often read, while the youngest listened, perhaps painting her nails or tidying her room. When my youngest had to leave the room for a moment, she would say, “Pause,” and push her imaginary pause button in the air. My eldest would stop reading, and wait impatiently for her return.
Today, I still enjoy reading aloud with family and with my writing group as we critique each others’ works-in-progress. Reading aloud creates a shared knowledge, a community, and strong relationships. It empowers and it strengthens. On World Read Aloud Day, we can advocate for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology. One book at at time, we can show our support for the right to read, write, and share words that can change the world.
To celebrate World Read Aloud Day, I’ve created this video below, reading a scene from my upcoming middle-grade fantasy novel titled Bog. Please listen, enjoy, and share it. What will you read aloud today?
To see more Canadian children’s book creators reading from their books, go to the Canadian Children’s Book Centre on YouTube. Thanks to the Book Centre for organizing this initiative!
March Break Writing & Arts Festival for Teens
teen writers and artists who are looking for inspiration? Please spread the word about the Toronto Public Library’s Young Voices March Break Writing & Arts Festival. From March 8 to 14, teens aged 12 to 19 can attend any or all of these hands-on workshops, from “Colours You Could Eat: Toronto Mixed Media” with professional artist Michael Brown to “Make Your Own Short Comic Book Story” with author and illustrator Evan Munday. Check out all the workshops on this flyer.
Toronto teens can also submit their writing and visual art to the TPL’s annual Young Voices Magazine. Deadline is April 5. For more info and to submit, click here.
Amy’s Marathon of Books
Amy Mathers honours her passion for reading and Canadian teen literature
Imagine reading ten pages every six minutes. Now imagine doing that every day for a year.
Terry Fox could run a kilometre in six minutes during his Marathon of Hope. Inspired by Terry Fox’s and Rick Hansen’s journeys, Amy Mathers will be reading teen fiction books from every province and territory, exploring Canada and promoting Canadian teen authors and books by finishing a book a day for each day of 2014. Not only that, she’ll also publish a review of each book she reads and encourage others to share their opinions, too.
What’s Amy’s goal?
Amy’s goal is to raise money for the Canadian Children’s Book Centre (CCBC), a non-profit organization that presents the yearly Canadian Children’s Literature Awards gala. This inspiring event includes esteemed awards such as the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Young People. Now, the CCBC hopes to add an award for Canadian books for teens. I’m thrilled that the funds raised by Amy’s Marathon of Books will go toward an endowment for a Canadian teen book award to be presented at the annual CCBC gala. As an author for teens, it’s important to me that their reading materials be honoured and appraised.
What can you do?
Click here to read Amy’s daily book reviews and leave your opinions about the books. Click here to donate to Amy’s Marathon.
Looking for great Canadian teen books to read? Check out Amy’s Reading List, which currently include my novel, Take the Stairs, as well as many other fine titles.
Who is Amy?
Amy Mathers is a passionate reader who hopes to inspires others to share her enthusiasm for funding a teen book award. Although she has faced physical and health challenges throughout her life, Amy has worked as a bibliotherapist, taken part in a high school reading selection committee and co-written and co-taught a college course called “Assisting Families Dealing with Chronic Illness & Disability.” I had the opportunity to meet Amy in January at the Ontario Library Association SuperConference, where she showed her appreciation for Canadian books and readers as well as her ability to inspire. I wish Amy luck on her journey, and hope people throughout Canada will support and encourage her. Best wishes, Amy!
Video: My 2013 Lit Wish List
Thanks to Julie Wilson and the 49th Shelf – a site devoted entirely to Canadian books – for this chance to promote three great Canadian titles for kids and teens! It’s my first video post, so please let me know what you think of it. To see the post, go here.
It’s easy to tell the world that Canadian kid lit is well written, intriguing and worth reading. The hard part was to select only three great Canadian kid-lit books to profile. There are too many to choose from!
If you’re buying books this holiday season for kids or teens, please check out the many fabulous titles available at your local bookstore. You won’t be disappointed!
What I Learned from CANSCAIP
Greeting conference attendees.
Last week, I retired as President of CANSCAIP – the Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers. I’ve spent the last four years volunteering, first as Vice-President in charge of the annual Packaging Your Imagination Conference in Toronto, and then as President, overseeing all CANSCAIP programming.
I’m a born organizer, so I knew I could do some good for an organization that I value. But I also chose to volunteer for personal reasons: to get to know more people in my industry and to practise my public speaking, since I’m an introvert at heart.
I certainly achieved both my personal goals, and I hope that I left CANSCAIP better off. Here’s what I learned from my volunteering experiences:
- The more often I speak in front of a crowd, the easier it gets.
- Listen to people. Fresh ideas can be found through conversation.
- Filter ideas and opinions to figure out what’s next.
- Attend industry events – even ones that don’t seem immediately relevant. New connections and insights lurk there, waiting to be discovered.
- Efficiency is the key to getting it all done.
- Creativity can be stifled by too much efficiency.
- Ponder knotty problems for a few days to allow solutions to emerge.
- Trust that I’ll be able to find a solution, no matter how challenging the problem.
- Nurture the growth of others. Celebrate success everywhere.
- Acknowledge how high we’ve climbed, even if the journey is still in progress.
- Community feeds creativity and personal growth.
I’ll still be Past-President for two more years, mostly mentoring new volunteers. And I’ll try to approach it the same way I started – with a willingness to stretch and grow in new, exciting ways.
Hosting my final monthly meeting.
(Photo courtesy of Debbie Ohi.)
Dear Teen Me
The Dear Teen Me website is known for it’s letters by authors to their teen selves – a terrific endeavour put together by E. Kristin Anderson, Priya Chand, and Miranda Kenneally. Some letters are humorous and others more serious, yet they all honour “teens who have good days and bad days and sometimes really really really bad days.” In fact, the Dear Teen Me anthology, based on the website, was published by Zest Books in 2012 and named Best Teen Nonfiction by the YABC Choice Awards.
I’m glad to be a part of the Dear Teen Me website, and as of today, you can read my letter here. Although I’m not going to get into specifics about my letter, I will say that it was a challenge to write. One of the reasons why I write for teens is that it’s a time of flux and personal growth – rich with possibilities and ripe with dangers that some teens experience first-hand. I hope that teens as well as people of all ages will find their way to the Dear Teen Me website to check it out. It’s a fascinating showcase of authentic teen experiences.
Young Voices 2013 Magazine
It’s coming! Young Voices 2013 – the Toronto Public Library‘s annual magazine of teen writing and art – will soon available at your local Toronto library branch. As an editor of this magazine, I’m proud of the talents of the Toronto’s teens showcased each year. You can also download a copy of the magazine here.
Art, photos, stories, poems, rants, and more – you’ll find it all within these pages. Young Voices gives the writers and artists of tomorrow an opportunity to publish their creations today.
Thanks to my group of enthusiastic editors from the Editorial Youth Advisory Group for an evening of friendly arguments, loud disagreements, and finally mutual understanding as we determined which pieces to select for the magazine. Thanks to the staff at the Toronto Public Library who give Toronto teens this fantastic opportunity.
This year, the Young Voices launch party will be held at the Toronto Reference Library on Tuesday, October 8 at 7:00 p.m. I hope the event will inspire these teen creators to continue to pursue their writing and art.
Don’t forget – it’s never too early to think about next year’s magazine! Check out the submission guidelines and deadline here.
October Workshop for Teens
Teen writers who are looking for hands-on writing workshops should check out the Toronto Public Library’s Young Voices 2013 Writers Conference. This free one-day event is on October 26 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. How lucky are we to have the fabulous Toronto Public Library!
You can meet published authors and artists, improve your craft, get your work published in the Instant Anthology blog and magazine, and meet other Toronto teen writers.
Workshops include:
- me on Character Development.
- teen Toronto writer Benjamin Gabbay on Story Plotting.
- author and artist Jim Zub on Graphic Novels.
- author Brian Francis on Fiction.
- artist and activist Ryan Kerr on Journalism.
- playwright Bobby Del Rio on Playwrighting.
- writer, musician, and multimedia artist Gary Barwin on Poetry.
Plus you can hear Tavi Gevinson – teen editor and founder of ROOKIEMAG.com.
Registration is now open, and if you register before October 11, you can enter to win a Kobo e-reader on the day of the conference!
For full details and to register, click here. Hope to see you there!
Cut the Lights Giveaway and Trailer
Goodreads Book Giveaway
Cut the Lights
by Karen Krossing
Giveaway ends October 05, 2013.
See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.
You can also enter Goodreads giveaways to win one of the two other debut Orca Limelights novels: Attitude by Robin Stevenson and Totally Unrelated by Tom Ryan.
The first review of Cut the Lights is wonderful. Here’s what the Quill & Quire reviewer had to say:
Karen Krossing’s Cut the Lights is a … complex offering, both in terms of storyline and character. Krossing is a confident, engaging writer, and the book’s setting is a kind of Glee-meets-Fame dream school that kids will find very appealing…. Given how many kids dream of stardom, the Limelights series is sure to hold wide appeal, especially if those lofty ambitions continue to be dealt with in ways that are encouraging and down-to-earth at the same time.
Quill & Quire
You can download a sample chapter of Cut the Lights here. Enjoy the trailer!
Cut the Lights Trailer
Filling the Creative Well (Part 2)
In the meantime, I re-finished our kitchen chairs into works of art with my artist daughter, Paige. (Statement of Truth: She’s the artist. I’m just the base-coat painter.) You can see our first three chairs in Part 1, including the themes cosmos, Aztec, and steampunk. As promised, here are the final three chairs: Doctor Who, floral, and collage.
For all you Doctor Who fans out there, we planned a spinning Tardis (the Doctor’s time machine) within billowing clouds coupled with our favourite quotes written in Gallifreyan (the language used by the Time Lords, displayed using a complex system of interlocking circles, hexagons and lines).
Here’s the front of our Doctor Who chair, including a close up:
Can’t read Gallifreyan? Curious what we wrote? Okay, here it is:
- Front of backrest: “Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it’s a plan!”
(The Doctor, Season 7, Christmas Special) - Lower-left seat: “Always take a banana to a party, Rose. Bananas are good!”
(The Doctor, Season 2, Episode 4) - Upper-right seat: “Biting’s excellent. It’s like kissing. Only there is a winner.”
(Idris, Season 6, Episode 4)
Here’s the rear of the same chair:
This Gallifreyan quote says: “You want weapons? We’re in a library! Books! The best weapons in the world!” (The Doctor, Season 2, Episode 2).
Next, we created our floral chair, which is the only one that uses the natural wood grain:
And finally, here’s our collage chair, which includes images of the aftermath of Great Fire in Toronto, some of our favourite pastimes (books, dance, etc.), my family nickname (Karnage), excerpts from “What to Do in Case of an Air Raid” (a funny historical piece I found in a collectibles shop), several dragons (because who doesn’t like dragons), and a lot more.
Here’s a peek at our collage chair:
Now, we are resting on our chairs, irreverently sitting on works of art, and enjoying the fruits of our labours. And maybe, just maybe, that novel is ready to be written.
The writing process is a quirky thing. It’s somewhat like calming a screaming toddler in the middle of a department store while juggling twelve oranges. You’ve got to keep all the oranges in the air without further upsetting the toddler or getting kicked out by the security guards. Okay, I know. Bad comparison.
What I did discover one day in August was that I suddenly knew how to solve that niggling problem in my work-in-progress. One clear sunny morning while reading an information book for pleasure, an brilliant idea found me, told me how to finish the novel, and created a few exciting new characters in the process.
So I’m feeling that stepping away from my desk and letting my subconscious do the work was a terrific plan. Even though I wasn’t sure it would work. I guess those hours of painting chairs paid off in more ways than one.